The people of Odessa, Texas apparently are narrow minded when it comes to religion and history studies.

About 6,000 signatures supported a Bible class elective in the Ector Independent School District according to Eva Parks, an NBC News Dallas Bureau Coordinator. Parks quoted a spokeswoman for the EISD, saying, “the Bible class will be taught as a history or literature course elective.”

So, if the interest of history is the reason behind this new elective, why does it feel like other religions are being left out? And what happened to “separation of Church and State?”

Because most of the population in Odessa is either white, Mexican/Hispanic or a combination of two, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, it is not surprising that people in this West Texas town lean toward Christianity. However, the influences of Judaism, the Islamic faith, Buddhism and several other religions have affected American culture since its inception. Last year’s “Passion of The Christ,” which caused some critiques of Judaism, shows there is still a lot to learn about Judaism and Jewish people as a whole.

The population of Odessa should not serve as an excuse to skim through these religious faiths. My high school didn’t.

St. Joseph High School, in Westchester, Illinois, should have the perfect excuse to ignore other religious faiths: it’s a Lasallian school.

“The Brothers of the Christian Schools, known as the De La Salle Christian Brothers, are members of one of the largest worldwide societies in the Catholic Church,” according to the SJHS Web site. It has no obligation to exposing other religions to its students. However, I took a course called “World Religions” at St. Joseph, which covered all of the major religious faiths around the globe. This course opened my eyes, and made my faith stronger because of some of the similarities within the diverse religions covered in the class. It also made me appreciate the diversity of this country, something that St. Joseph has embraced in its curriculum, as well as its student body. Maybe the EISD should consider incorporating other religions in this course for this same reason. If not, this issue could cause a constitutional battle.

The establishment clause of the First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Though this class will be an elective, the fact that a public school says it’s OK to teach the Bible arguably implies the government is supporting Christianity and consequently undermining other faiths. Thomas Jefferson argued for “a wall of separation between Church and State” in his letter to the Danbury Baptist. If this class is allowed in all public schools, that wall will look more like a glass window. Even though an overwhelming amount of people in Odessa want the Bible study elective in high school, this education should be given through the church unless all religions are discussed.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.